Freshwater Beach Holiday Park - Bridport

The family owned Freshwater Beach Holiday Park appointed HPW to design a new central facilities building to help futureproof its business.

To meet the changing needs of guests and to comply with stringent planning requirements, HPW designed a leisure complex that not only provides an excellent variety of facilities for guests, it also blends into the surrounding landscape of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

The Jurassic Fun Centre building, covered by an indigenous wildflower roof, features a variety of swimming pools and water features for adults and children, a gym and spa, a ten pin bowling alley, a café and a bar.

Winner of the 2014 South West RICS Awards Tourism and Leisure category.

Sustainable success for World Heritage Site building

A pioneering 28,000sq ft building in the heart of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, Freshwater Beach Holiday Park’s new leisure facility features cutting edge green technologies achieving 37% of its energy through renewable sources.

The sustainability features achieve 37% of the building's energy through renewable sources – more than three times the planning requirement of 10%.

Covered by a wildflower roof, the complex features an indoor swimming pool, fun pool, toddlers pool and wet play area, sauna, steam room and spa facilities, gym and treatment room, six lane ten-pin bowling alley, cafe, bar and first floor terrace with stunning views along the coast.

Despite the hurdles that come with securing planning on a World Heritage Site and that previous plans by other architects had failed to secure permission, Hampshire based HPW won consent for the project on their first application. From its base in Ower near Southampton, the team succeeded with a design that was in keeping with the environmentally sensitive stretch of coastline.

The unusual wildflower roof, which has been planted with local grasses and flowers, has already become a nectar rich haven for bees, butterflies and other wildlife since its installation.

The shape of the roof follows the contour of the hill behind and the building’s stone cladding, which was locally sourced on site, matches the colour of the cliff to ensure the structure ‘disappears’ into its surrounds.

The new building incorporates a number of sustainable features and achieves 37% of its energy through renewable sources – more than three times the planning requirement of 10%.

A super-insulated shell and water saving devices such as low flush WCs and an automatic green roof irrigation system help lessen the environmental impact even further.

HPW’s approach brought fresh eyes to the project and a design solution which met the needs of Freshwater's owners, the Local Authority and local residents. The Hampshire based architecture practice also maintained a close relationship with all involved throughout the planning process.

The improved facilities will help keep family owned and run Freshwater Beach Holiday Park competitive and popular with its customers and secure its future in the long term.

Alan Powell, HPW's Managing Director:

“We’re thrilled that the client is delighted with their new facility. Achieving planning permission on a World Heritage Site is a notoriously difficult task and it’s not been without its challenges, but having worked closely with all the authorities involved as well as local residents, we have been able to put together a sensitive scheme that ticks all the right boxes.

"Now complete, the new leisure facility will help enable our client achieve their business objectives and provide a great experience for their guests.

"There has already been a positive response from the holiday park’s neighbours who originally had reservations about the plans but are now commenting on how genuinely low-impact the building is.”